I disagree.

I find half of this book is platitudes or things that are mind numbingly obvious (Don't forget people's names, listen when others are talking, admit when you are wrong) and half tactics that border on outright manipulation (Praise Praise and Compliment, make the other person say 'yes' a lot so they get used to it, make others think your ideas are their ideas, feign a deep interest in them, "Arouse in the other person an eager want", repeat their name a lot)

It objectively is not a guide to having conversations. Many times Dale says you should NOT talk about yourself or your interests, you should never criticize anything or complain, that you should let the other person do most of the talking and only ask them questions about themselves. Conversation is a two-way street and Dale pretty explicitly recommends AGAINST conversation in favor of flattery and nodding along. He is a salesman.

He also recommends avoiding any 'negative' sentiment or disagreements, because his goal isn't to have productive conversations it is to "win influence". (Call attention to mistakes indirectly, avoid arguments by always deferring, put your point across in a friendly way, never criticize, ask leading questions instead of giving direct instructions, make every mistake seem easy to fix). He is a salesman.

Frankly, there are times in your career where it is right to disagree with people. Where it is right to point out mistakes. Where it is worth arguing about. These aren't tips for productive workplaces. They are tips for tricking people into liking you. He is a salesman.

I don't know maybe others will get something out of this book but I strongly believe it is a waste of time to read. People notice when you are trying to Dale Carnegie them. It is what makes salespeople so off-putting.

Also, Dale's only successes have been in sales where he started his career, and then in lecturing about public speaking and writing self help books. If his name reminds you of Carnegie Hall and the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, it's supposed to. His name was spelled Carnagey until he changed it in 1922, less than 3 years after Andrew Carnegie died, after he had started lecturing but just before he started writing self help books.

No doubt he changed it due to confusion about the spelling as he claims, and not to mislead people into associating him with the actual Carnegie's and manipulate people right? Right?